US mom gets 99 years for beating child, gluing hands

Updated - October 18, 2016 03:05 pm IST

Published - October 14, 2012 12:14 pm IST - Washington

In this October 11, 2012 photo, Elizabeth Escalona, 23, breaks down as she responds to a line of questions in the sentencing phase of her trial, in Dallas.

In this October 11, 2012 photo, Elizabeth Escalona, 23, breaks down as she responds to a line of questions in the sentencing phase of her trial, in Dallas.

A Dallas woman who superglued her two-year-old daughter’s hands to a wall and beat her “to the edge of death” has been sentenced to 99 years in prison.

During the September 2011 assault on Jocelyn Cedillo, Elizabeth Escalona beat the girl into a coma, according to The Dallas Morning News.

The 23-year-old mother of five has pleaded guilty to felony injury of the child during her hearing, where she was portrayed as an unfit mother and referred to as a “monster”, the local media reported on Saturday.

“I hit her, I kicked her constantly, and she didn’t deserve that,” Ms Escalona said in court last week. “Only a monster does that.”

Asked to explain her violent behaviour, she told the court she was learning ways to deal with her anger and the stress of raising five children. She also admitted drinking and doing drugs after she was released from jail on bond in February.

Ms Escalona’s violent attack that resulted in bleeding of the girl’s brain was due to potty training problem.

Before handing down the sentence, Texas Judge Larry Mitchell said Ms Escalona needed to be punished for savagely beating her child “to the edge of death.”

Baby Jocelyn suffered bleeding in her brain, a fractured rib, bruises and bite marks, and was in a coma for a couple of days. Some skin had been torn off her hands, where doctors also found paint chips from the apartment wall.

The minor girl has survived the injuries and is doing well, the report said.

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